Reto Ziegler: how Sion thwarted Liverpool

FC Sion are the least experienced side in UEFA Europa League Group B but their 1-1 draw at Liverpool shows the Swiss Cup winners are not to be underestimated. Here Sion defender Reto Ziegler explains how a team competing for the first time in a UEFA group stage were able to build on their opening victory over Rubin by frustrating Liverpool – to the delight of their noisy fans.

Sion nerve held after poor start
Ziegler had played at Anfield before with Tottenham Hotspur and anticipated the Reds' fast start, yet if they were caught out by Adam Lallana's early goal, the visitors' response gave cause for satisfaction. "We were disappointed with the first 15 minutes," he told UEFA.com. "It was not the best way to begin a game, but after that we were calm on the ball – we didn't just kick it away, we tried to play football. We have quality up front and we showed that. We knew if we could put them under pressure and score a goal they are a bit weak mentally at the moment."

Thulot's tactics paid off
For full-back Ziegler, Sion coach Didier Tholot got his tactics just right. "Liverpool have a strong midfield so the mistake teams make is they try to play in the middle where they are strong. Our coach was right – he showed us a lot of videos and Liverpool are always focused in the midfield so we tried to play down the sides as we have pace and players like Carlitos, who is really strong one-against-one."

Quality at both ends of pitch
It was Ghanaian forward Ebenezer Assifuah, breaking onto a ball out to the right, who scored Sion's equaliser and he nearly had a second goal in the second period, foiled by a smart save by Simon Mignolet. "We have good strikers and offensive players with pace," said Ziegler, though he had particular praise for Sion's 35-year-old Latvian goalkeeper Andris Vaņins, who made several important saves. "I told him at the beginning of the season that he is the best goalkeeper in Switzerland so for me it is no surprise."

Reto Ziegler played in England with Spurs©UEFA.com

Fans' backing helped
This was only Sion's second trip to England and their 1,200 travelling supporters seemed determined to enjoy it from the moment before kick-off they joined the home fans in singing You'll Never Walk Alone. They subsequently outsang them for much of the 90 minutes and the celebrations between fans and players at the end underlined just what this night meant to Sion. "I would like to thank them," said Ziegler. "They were really loud and I didn't expect that."

Still room for improvement
Sion showed they can raise their game when winning their 13th Swiss Cup by overcoming Basel at St. Jakob-Park in June – but Ziegler admitted that a team beaten at home by Vaduz last weekend still need to find greater consistency; they face Bordeaux next. "It is not easy to be a team who win every week. I came to Sion in February and they were bottom of the league but we fought our way up and won the cup. We have a lot of young and new players and we have to learn it is easy to be motivated against Liverpool and not against Vaduz. Our confidence is high but we know it's a really tough group and our opponents know us a bit better now and will respect us more."